Brampton townhouse blaze kills boy at sleepover

Deadly Brampton Fire

Dylon Keast hugs his two year old daughter Mackenzie Keast the day after the Brampton fire. Keast got his daughter out of the blaze passing her to a neighbour and then returned inside to kick down the door of the apartment where Nicolas Gabriel was later found. Keast said he pulled a man and his son out of the unit. Brampton fire on Ardglen Dr. on Monday June 9, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

People gather at the fire scene. Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Jordan and his mom Lisa hear the news of Jordan friend being lost in the fire. Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Local residents donate clothing for the family. Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Terri Chad Aunt of Nicholas the boy that lost his life in the blaze. Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Local residents donate clothing for the family. Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Police officer wearing mask for the smoke that hangs in the air. Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Brampton fire where one boy lost his life on Sunday June 8, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Dylon Keast hugs his two year old daughter Mackenzie Keast the day after the Brampton fire. Keast got his daughter out of the blaze passing her to a neighbour and then returned inside to kick down the door of the apartment where Nicolas Gabriel was later found. Keast said he pulled a man and his son out of the unit. Brampton fire on Ardglen Dr. on Monday June 9, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Dylon Keast hugs his two year old daughter Mackenzie Keast the day after the Brampton fire. Keast got his daughter out of the blaze passing her to a neighbour and then returned inside to kick down the door of the apartment where Nicolas Gabriel was later found. Keast said he pulled a man and his son out of the unit. Brampton fire on Ardglen Dr. on Monday June 9, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Dylon Keast hugs his two year old daughter Mackenzie Keast the day after the Brampton fire. Keast got his daughter out of the blaze passing her to a neighbour and then returned inside to kick down the door of the apartment where Nicolas Gabriel was later found. Keast said he pulled a man and his son out of the unit. Brampton fire on Ardglen Dr. on Monday June 9, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Dylon Keast hugs his two year old daughter Mackenzie Keast the day after the Brampton fire. Keast got his daughter out of the blaze passing her to a neighbour and then returned inside to kick down the door of the apartment where Nicolas Gabriel was later found. Keast said he pulled a man and his son out of the unit. Brampton fire on Ardglen Dr. on Monday June 9, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Dylon Keast hugs his two year old daughter Mackenzie Keast the day after the Brampton fire. Keast got his daughter out of the blaze passing her to a neighbour and then returned inside to kick down the door of the apartment where Nicolas Gabriel was later found. Keast said he pulled a man and his son out of the unit. Brampton fire on Ardglen Dr. on Monday June 9, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Dylon Keast hugs his two year old daughter Mackenzie Keast the day after the Brampton fire. Keast got his daughter out of the blaze passing her to a neighbour and then returned inside to kick down the door of the apartment where Nicolas Gabriel was later found. Keast said he pulled a man and his son out of the unit. Brampton fire on Ardglen Dr. on Monday June 9, 2014. Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun

Craig Robertson/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency

Nicholas Gabriel, 10, in a photo posted to his father's Facebook page, was killed in a townhouse complex fire in Brampton Sunday, June 8, 2014. (Facebook)

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A Brampton family is reeling after a 10-year-old boy sleeping over at a friend’s was killed in a massive fire that left dozens homeless.

Mom Kelly Gabriel, 34, told the Toronto Sun Nicholas Gabriel was well known — and well liked — in the neighbourhood.

“He loved his (push) scooter that he got for Christmas, he loved camping,” the devastated mom said.

Nicholas’s dad posted a message of grief on his Facebook page, where he had several proud photos of his son.

“Nicky — I was ALWAYS happy and proud of you; no matter what. We had plans! We were supposed to go see Godzilla for your birthday! I was supposed to help you with your project! I just want to wake up from this nightmare; all I can see your smiling face in my head. God how I miss you,” Shane Gabriel wrote.

Officials say fire crews were called to the Ardglen Dr. townhouse complex, in the Kennedy Rd. S. and Queen St. E. area, just after 3 a.m. Sunday.

Nicholas lived in another building of the complex and had been staying at his friend’s in building 59 when fire broke out and quickly spread.

Brampton Fire Deputy Chief Michael Clark confirmed a boy’s body was found in the unit where the fire originated.

“A 10-year-old was staying over with his friends. Everyone got out of the house, and he wasn’t able to be found,” Clark said.

Gabriel questioned how Nicholas did not get out while his friend, friend’s sister and friend’s dad, who she said she has known for nine years, did.

“How is it that he takes his own son out and not mine?” she said through tears.

Clark said as many as 300 residents were forced to flee their homes when the fire started to spread, badly damaging or completely destroying 18 units. Fifty firefighters and 19 fire trucks were called to the scene. Up to 100 people are now homeless, officials said.

Pat, a neighbour who didn’t want to give her last name, called Nicholas an “outgoing, energetic kid” who loved playing with his friends.

“He was like any child,” Pat said outside building 55, where Nicholas lived with his older sister, younger brother, Shane and Kelly. “Outgoing, energetic, happy, a pain in the butt like any 10-year-old. He’d play outside my unit with his friends.”

Dennis Blenhart, 52, who lives in a unit just a few doors from the Gabriel family, said Nicholas would often peer through his backyard fence at the goldfish in his pond.

“Nicholas was a pretty cool kid,” said Blenhart. “He rode his bike all the time, played ball with his friends in the laneway here.” Blenhart said when the fire first broke out in the wee hours and people began to flee, Nicholas’s father emerged from his own unit, frantic, knowing that his boy was at a sleepover in the building that was on fire.

Terri Chad singled out “the fire department, police, paramedics for their professional but caring way of dealing with the family” and also thanked the “Region of Peel, Salvation Army, Red Cross and numerous volunteers for their support.”

Building 59 resident Tressa Daily, 35, said she and her two daughters lost everything in the blaze, including their two pet birds, furniture, electronics, and every stitch of clothing, save for what they were wearing when they fled.

Daily was not allowed back into her building — which by end of day Sunday was still smoking and looked all but completely gutted — but was allowed to venture to the building’s back parking lot to retrieve some cash from her car.

“I looked in between (and) the whole thing is black and charred,” Daily said of the building’s hallways.

Peel Police spokesman Const. Lilly Fitzpatrick said the investigation is now in the hands of the Ontario Fire Marshal, and that at this point “there is nothing … to indicate any foul play.”

Fitzpatrick said that if this changes, the investigation will be handed to Peel Regional Police.

This is not the first time tragedy has struck this hardscrabble townhouse complex.

In January 2013, nine-year-old Kesean Williams was shot dead after a bullet pierced his living room window and hit him in the head as he played video games.

Police, who have yet to find the shooter, believe the house was targeted, but that the boy and his family were not necessarily the killer’s intended targets.

Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell called the deadly fire “another tragedy to a community that is still healing from losing young Kesean.” She said Peel social services and the Salvation Army will be arranging for those rendered homeless to receive accommodation.

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Brampton townhouse blaze kills boy at sleepover

A Brampton family is reeling after a 10-year-old boy sleeping over at a friend’s was killed in a massive fire that left dozens homeless.
Mom Kelly Gabriel, 34, told the Toronto Sun Nicholas Gabriel was well known — and well liked — in the neighbourhood.
“He loved his (push) scooter that he got for Christmas, he loved camping,” the devastated mom said.
Officials say fire crews were called to the Ardglen Dr. townhouse complex, in the Kennedy Rd. S. and Queen St. E. area, just after 3 a.m. Sunday.